Protecting
the Okefenokee
The Okefenokee Swamp needs your help. Say no to the Twin Pines titanium dioxide mine.
Twin Pines minerals is seeking a permit to engage in heavy mineral sand mining along Trail Ridge, a geologic formation that forms the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee swamp.
Mining along this ridge could impact the hydrology of the swamp and impair the movement and storage of water. This disruption increases the risks of environmental damage, biodiversity loss, and wildfires.
Like many wetlands, peat in the Okefenokee swamp stores considerable amounts of carbon. Protecting this landscape - and preventing the peat from being released through wildfires or other means - is an important strategy for reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change.
The swamp is home to many unique plants and animals, including the American alligator, the sandhill crane, the eastern indigo snake, and the endangered Atlantic Surgeon, who rely on this protected landscape to thrive. The lights from permanent mining structures would also compromise the dark skies that contribute to the solitude - and stargazing - of the swamp.
The Okefenokee is a source of 750 local jobs and provides an estimated $64.7 million in economic activity. Environmental damage to the swamp could have negative economic impacts on tourism across south Georgia.
Titanium - the proposed mineral to be mined - is common and can be found in other mining locations. It is proposed the materials mined from Trail Ridge would be used for whitening in materials like paint and toothpaste.
Our Catholic faith invites us to consider how our work for the Common Good requires an ecological approach that recognizes our interdependence with the natural world and respects for all forms of life. Protecting one of Georgia’s most beautiful and biodiverse landscapes - a space that is on the short-list to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site - is one way we can care of creation right here in our home state.
Let’s protect one of the most unique environmental landscapes in our state by (1) rejecting the Twin Pines permit request and (2) approving and signing the Okefenokee Protection Act so the swamp can be protected for future generations.